The Villain (Boston Belles, #2)(114)
My heart beat so fast I thought I was going to faint.
Kill raised his hand nonchalantly, stopping the stream of questions.
“As I said, the statement will be brief, and I will not be taking any questions. In addition to stopping all oil-rig actions, as of this afternoon, I am also the proud owner of the surrounding Arctic areas which have shown potential and promise to discover oil, meaning Royal Pipelines currently holds all the reserves and options for anyone to drill in the Arctic. Ever.
“I will explore cleaner options in my bid to grow Royal Pipelines’ capital and am still committed to employ tens of thousands of Americans. In fact, I would like to inform our investors that I already got my hands on something far more lucrative than the Arctic and not nearly as destructive.”
The winning, villainous smile he shot the camera was of someone who was having a checkmate moment, not someone who had just given up his flagship operation. But that was Cillian. Always three steps ahead of the game.
“The reason for my executive decision has nothing to do with Green Living. As you’re aware, Green Living had decided to drop the case against Royal Pipelines. As of today, no one had managed to pick it up and carry it through. The reason for my decision is entirely personal.
“As some of you know, I married less than a year ago. One of the things my wife taught me was to listen. This is me listening to what she had to say. She’s been outspoken against drilling in the Arctic throughout our short marriage.” He paused, twisting his mouth grimly. “She drives a Tesla, you see.”
The journalists and photographers erupted in laughter. A few colleagues shot me curious glances. My peers always asked me what I was doing here. As if waking up for work was some sort of punishment. Like they wouldn’t miss our students if they quit work. I mostly ignored it, but the truth was, I liked keeping my job because I didn’t know if Cillian was going to keep me.
I tried to blink back the tears, averting my gaze from the TV.
I told him not to contact me, and he kept on finding new and creative ways to reach out to me.
It took me months to turn my back on us, but I never took into consideration there may be a game changer.
That Cillian might wake up and fight for us.
“Anyone interested in hearing a joke about that time Kill drilled the Arctic but stopped because someone thawed his icy heart?”
Hunter snorted when I got off the stage, pacing behind me. Devon followed.
“No,” Devon and I barked in unison.
Hunter nodded. “’Kay. Good talk.”
We slipped through the back door, taking the elevator back to the management floor. I kept checking my watch, wondering when an appropriate time would be to try calling my wife. I finally got it. How badly it sucked to be ignored. I’d ignored Persephone for months when I had her in my bed, sweet and willing.
Her texts, her words, her quirky observations. They were all mine for the taking.
Now I had to do the chasing, and I had to admit—they weren’t kidding when they called Karma a bitch.
The elevator dinged. I strode out to my office, waving at Hunter to get as far as humanly possible away from me. I was a surly son of a bitch these days. I cursed. I shouted at employees. I did a lot of mortal things people weren’t used to from me. The other day, I said fuck while golfing with my father. He almost had a stroke.
Speaking of Athair, I spotted the old sod pacing the boardroom from the corner of my eye and made a quick, sharp turn toward it. An overhead TV replaying my press conference danced on the wall behind him. Upon a closer look, I saw Mother was there, too, perched on one of the seats by the kidney-shaped desk, fixing her makeup.
I opened the door, closed it, and waited for the storm. I didn’t have to wait long.
“You little piece of—”
“I would not finish that sentence if I were you.” I raised my open palm, wearing an easy smile on my face. “You’re talking to the CEO of Royal Pipelines. Disrespect me, and you’ll find yourself escorted out of my building.”
“Your building?” he sputtered. “That’s a good one. No. You would never,” my father spat out. I didn’t have to grace that with an answer. He already knew I was capable of pretty much anything.
He fell into one of the seats, grabbing his head in his hands, shaking it. “I don’t understand.”
“I am under no obligation to make sense to you,” I informed him.
“Green Living dropped the lawsuit. This could’ve been the most lucrative oil-rig operation in the world. I mean, you were the one who pushed for it. You were the head of research. You spent three goddamn months living on an iceberg, managing this project closely. This was your baby, Cillian.”
“Yes,” I said. “And now I’m interested in another baby. A human one. Which is why I’d like my wife to be as content as she can be.”
“This is what it’s about?” Mother jumped to her feet, finally justifying her oxygen consumption in the room. “Sweetie, we appreciate you marrying this…this sweet, common girl, but there are others out there. Just as pretty, and they won’t interfere with your business. I didn’t interfere with your father’s business.”
“No,” I agreed. “You also had jack-shit to say about anything, from our upbringing to our education. At the risk of sounding disrespectful—which, by the way, I am happy to take—I don’t want your kind of marriage. It looks awful, inside and out. I don’t want manageable. I don’t want my wife to be a ghost of a mother. A yes woman. A prop. And I like my common wife just fine, Mother.”